News : Young people set to have say on geological disposal in West Cumbria
Young people in
A large public consultation is currently happening across
If the area does decide to participate, and it could withdraw at any point in the future until work begins to build a repository, then it would take around 15 years to find a suitable site following extensive testing of geology and other factors.
The Partnership therefore feels it is important that the younger generations take an interest, learn about the issues involved and voice their opinions.
In order to help raise awareness of the process in young people the Partnership is doing a number of things. More than 30 discussion groups will be run by the youth advisory organisation Connexions.
All secondary schools in
Connexions are also available to help facilitate these sessions. The schools and youth groups will be able to feed back views from these sessions to the consultation process.
Councillor Tim Knowles, member of the West Cumbria MRWS Partnership and Cumbria County Council cabinet member responsible for the environment, said: “The process to find a suitable site for a geological disposal facility for higher-activity radioactive waste, should this area decide to participate, will be a long one. If a repository is built it would also affect people in the area for many generations into the future and therefore it is crucial that the young people in our society are aware of the issues relating to this process and have their say.
“As a Partnership we are very much interested to hear the views of young people and in order to help them we have, along with Connexions, organised a number of discussion groups and we are sending material out to secondary schools”.
Anyone who would like to get a copy of the youth engagement materials should contact Jenny Willis at jenny@3kq.co.uk.
The Partnership has produced a consultation document which sets out its initial opinions on a range of key issues.
The consultation document and a DVD are available on the Partnership’s website at www.westcumbriamrws.org.uk it is also available by calling Freephone 0800 0488912, or by emailing contact@westcumbriamrws.org.uk
A shorter overview document will be sent to all homes in
The Partnership will be hosting a series of consultation events across
People are being asked to get a copy of the consultation document and feed back their views on the Partnership’s initial opinions.
These views will then be taken into consideration when the Partnership finalises its report to send to the three local authorities that will make a formal decision about whether to take part in the search for a site – Allerdale Borough Council, Copeland Borough Council and Cumbria County Council.
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For media enquiries please contact the Partnership’s communications advisor Paul Gardner or Ian Boydon at Osprey Communications on 01524-782086 or 077667906561
1. In addition to Allerdale Borough Council, Copeland Borough Council and Cumbria County Council there are a range of other organisations making up the Partnership, including Barrow Borough Council, local trade unions, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), Churches Together Council, Eden District Council, South Lakeland District Council, Carlisle City Council, the Lake District National Park Authority, the Cumbria Association of Local Councils, NuLeAF (the Nuclear Legacy Advisory Forum), the Cumbria Chamber of Commerce and Cumbria Tourism.
2. A number of other organisations attend as ‘observing members’ including Government departments, the Isle of Man Government, CoRWM (Committee on Radioactive Waste Management), the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and the safety and environment regulators.
3. The Government is looking for a community in the
4. Taking part in discussions with the Government does not commit the Cumbrian authorities to hosting a deep geological repository and they can withdraw from the process at any point up until a time when construction would begin – estimated to be more than 10 years from now.